How should I best wash my most favourite clothes without damaging them?

Question

I recently moved out my parents place and I have to do my own laundry now. Now, I have a couple of items (woolen sweater, some T-shirts, cotton walking pants, some nice shirts, etc) that I really love and would not like to get damaged. I want them to stay looking like they do now, without any pilling, abrasion, shrinking or fading.

In short, I am looking for smart tricks to care for my laundry, like my mother used to (without having to ask her ;-)) )

Thanks in advance for your suggestions...

PS: I heard something about 'laundry tricks' like putting different items in a net, or adding tennis balls and stuff. Do you have any more tricks like this? I like these things as I am not such a big fan of chemical detergents :s Thx!

Answer 1

well, I use woolite in cold water gentle cycle in the washing machine for washable fabrics. for some things that should be drycleaned only like suits and things of that nature, I use a dryer drycleaning kit Dryel. you can find it at target or some local drug stores. be careful of the wool sweaters, sometimes laudering them at home can shrink them too much. hope this helps.

Answer 2

First and foremost, look for the care label! This is usually at the back of the neck for shirts, often sewn into a sideseam for other garments. If there's a maker's label, turn it over, it often has care info on it. You may have to turn the garment inside out to find the information. If they use symbols, Google to find the meaning, or ask at a drycleaners, they often give you cards with the symbols and meanings on.
Hand washing with cool-to-warm water and a gentle soap like Woolite or Sunlite won't do them any harm, but in the case of the woolen sweater, don't wring it out! Just press the water out with your hands by smooshing it against the bottom of the sink or bathtub, so the excess can drain away. Then when it's pretty thoroughly squeezed, wrap it in a heavy bathtowel and squeeze some more. Dry flat, spread out on a bathtowel. If you're in a hurry for it, set a fan to blow on it it will dry faster.

Answer 3

There are 4 components to cleaning: Time, Temperature, Chemical and Agitation - if you reduce any one of those, you have to increase another to get the same cleaning. However, to keep color and wear as new as possible you want to reduce agitation, chemical and temperature... so the only thing left to you is time. I would recommend a mild detergent in cold water and let soak overnight either in the tub, or in the washing machine with the lid open (doesn't start the agitation cycle). Be sure to rinse well (again in cold water) and you can use the washing machines spin cycle to help speed drying.

Answer 4

I prefer u to use EZEE u can wash all kind of cloths in this. Leave the cloths with Ezee in bucket for 10 mins and after that wash it with Surf excel and any other best surf u like. Plz don't use the hot water. It is better to wash your loved cloths by your hand not by machine. Machine makes harms to the cloths. U can dry it in the machine but don't wash.

Answer 5

the woolen one should be washed in cold water by hand only if u do it in hot or in the washing machine it my crumbel and shrink.

wash whites with whites and pale colurs with other pale colours and darks like brown and blacks and navey blues together and your delicates in a pillow case a white on would be a good idea as it wont spread its colour onto other clothes and i wash all my clothes in cold so i know for sure nothing will shrink and you save on a hotwater bill if you do.

Answer 6

Use cold water, Soak your clothes an hour before washing, use mild dettergent, and be carefull with delicate clother, don't use harsh products! Keep empty bottles of perfume in your closet so they smell nice. keep neem leaves in you clothes so insects don't come near!

Answer 7

I use Shampoo instead of detergent to wash my favourite clothes!

Answer 8

do it with love & care soke the clothes in waret with any good washpowder
let it be 4 1min
then take them out and scrub them with a brush & wash them with clean water & take out the water and put them to dry

ITS DONE!!!!! u have done it man

Answer 9

Wash them on the delicate cycle.

Answer 10

NO genuine OFFENSE meant, please forgive me, even though it jogged my memory of a slogan, for a state. a clean slogan actual, ya know, like on license tags etc. N.J.,,,was once the backyard State... i could foyer to alter that. N.J. "what's that scent?" Rev. Steven